Stop and search

London mayor Boris Johnson took the stage to a hero’s welcome at the Conservative Party conference this week - and his stand-up routine certainly seemed to keep the party faithful happy.

Liberal Democrat Vince Cable was one of those who suffered the sharp end of Mr Johnson’s tongue, with the mayor claiming Mr Cable had turned into an ‘axe-man’ at the recent Lib Dems party conference. Mr Johnson wasn’t impressed though, stating that Mr Cable’s tough stance was about as convincing as ‘the killer rabbit from Monty Python’.

Mr Johnson should be careful about throwing stones from his glass house though - his introduction to the familiar sound the of Eastenders theme tune left him looking about as statesman-like as Peggy Mitchell.

Conservative housing spokesperson Grant Shapps found himself with conflicted loyalties following a fringe event on homelessness at the party conference.

After the meeting he was pounced upon by campaigners who support Boris Johnson’s pledge to end homelessness in London by 2012 and want the party to follow his lead at a national level.

As the shadow housing minister walked from the venue, the campaigners thrust a leaflet into his hand that said: ‘Boris is making the running on rough sleeping - join the race Cameron’.

Mr Shapps initially responded with an enthusiastic ‘thanks’ before giving a double-take when he read the flier. But he was gone before Closed Circuit could ascertain whether he is a Cameron or a Johnson man.

Closed Circuit knows that Inside Housing’s annual chief executive salary survey stirred up the usual hornet’s nest of gossip and even made national headlines - but we had no idea that it could also affect marital relations.

One chief executive, who was down as receiving a large pay rise, has been quizzed by his wife on where he had been splashing the extra cash - not on buying presents for her it would seem.

Meanwhile, another executive’s former wife apparently checks the tables faithfully each year to find out what her alimony payments should be.

The reasons for the survey’s popularity are suddenly starting to become clear.